Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Derek Batz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Derek, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

The market for Mead is an interesting one, it is relatively rare to find on a good day and what is widely available is of a lesser quality. My clientele not only know what they don’t like but also what they do, the problem is finding what they do like in stores. The industry is not inviting to small businesses. The mass-produced Mead on the market is overly sweet and tastes little of honey but this is the first introduction for many people to what Mead is. Liquor stores who carry 1 or 2 mass produced meads typically do not sell a lot of this product. Liquor store owners are hesitant to carry Mead on their shelve because of the experience they have had with this slow mover. The people who like mead are ravenous about a good Mead though. I cater to the tastes of my audience and by doing so I have built quite a following in our area. In doing so the business has done well. We focus more on direct sales to people and take an approach towards package stores that if they are interested in carrying our product then they will reach out to us. I will also tell our customers that if they want to see our mead in their local store, they should be an advocate for it. I tell them that they have more clout with their package store than a random salesperson will.
We have developed several of our flavors based off requests from our customers. While the beer market can rotate their selections much quicker, we will still do some smaller batches of new flavors to see what the overall population thinks. We can and do use this feedback to modify and refine batches.
Early on we approached our local Ren Faire in our state to see if they would be willing to carry our product at their event, so we sat down with the people in charge one Saturday night after Faire closed, in the middle of the Lane and opened at least 6 different bottles and passed them around the group to see what people thought, pre Covid days. There were about 10 of us that night. Some of the flavors were well received and others not as much. We settled on an Apple Mead named Ladon, which would be an easier entry for the Faire Patrons, and they agreed to carry that one in the next season.
We have built a great repour with the Faire crew, they are not shy about giving feedback one way or the other. Some years later they wanted a second flavor in the lineup, so we created out Traditional Mead named Fafnir. This quickly became a hit and sold out for them and us year after year. It was so popular one year that we sold out mid run and they decided to carry some of our other bottles as well just to get through the season.
Both our business and theirs benefitted from the relationship. We got an amazing amount of free advertising to the patrons to the bar of the Faire. They increased their mead sales exponentially for several years in a row. It became so popular that the category of Mead matched the Beer sales in one season. The problem now was keeping up with the demand.
This relationship continues to grow as well. We are now able to sell our bottles at the events which has been a boon for the business. You might think that this would detract from their sales, but it did the opposite. We were able to do samples on site so people who otherwise might not try mead were able to and decide if they liked it or not. Most liked it, bought a couple of bottles to take home then went to the bar to get some to enjoy that day. The Patrons have done a good job on the Package store side of things as well. We have gained about 6 different stores because they have reached out the owners who brought in our products for their shelves.
I’m excited to see how the business develops over the next several years.

Derek, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started as a home brewer like many in the industry. Many years ago, I participated in a workshop teaching how to make Mead and was intrigued. I started my first batch with much excitement and energy. I had made wine previously and had a minimal knowledge. The first batch was OK, but I wanted to try some different combinations to see how they differed and if I’d like them better. Batch after batch under my belt I began to learn and understand and anticipate what to expect. Not all my batches were good, but you learn more from failure then you do from success. I became the Mead maker for a camp that I attend because I wanted to share it with friends. People there loved it and repeatedly asked if I could sell it. Eventually I started thinking about registering the brand and setting it up as a legitimate business. My wife was hesitant at first and would back it if I was able to sell to the Renaissance Faire, we were a part of. Challenge accepted. I spoke with the powers that be and they brought it in. She backed it from that point forward.
From the beginning I did not want to be beholden to a Bank or Investors and wanted the business to grow organically at its own pace. I backed it and we stared very small. Our first production run was in 30-gallon tanks and my capacity was 150 gallons. No one knew about us for some time and those were very lean times. I didn’t want all my eggs in that basket and the business didn’t warrant me being full time so I did what I could on the weekends and after work during the week. The Meadery was my part-time job. Over the years it grew, and we saw a future for it. I laid the groundwork for moving it to a new location. The plan was to find a home for my family with a space on the property where the meadery could grow as well.
We chose Coventry. The town was open and accommodating for us and we found a property that fit all the boxes for us. The process was painstaking converting the detached 2 car garage to the new Production room.
The real work could begin now. I began developing new flavors and creating practices that would help to carry things forward. Changing the scale was a challenge because not everything translated well. The batch size was strange, 5 gallons to 30 gallons to 55 gallons to 300 and back to 200. I had some surprises along the way as well a 200-gallon tank was overly active and it blew of the airlock and a tank of grapes tipped over in a box truck while transporting up north from South Carolina.
As I was branching out, I was also incorporating new ideas like oak aging and turning wine into brandy. We also began the buildout of the tasting room which was planned for the second floor of the Meadery. Those plans are still on hold. During all this Covid hit and we were in stasis. If it weren’t for the passionate feedback from friends and our clientele, the meadery may have closed its doors. I think I can speak for many small business owners; those years were challenging and tested my resolve.
When we were able to start selling direct to patrons at the Faire and get their feedback on the different flavors my mind began to fill with new ideas and questions that needed to be answered. I am still working through many of those ideas but then have re-inspired the drive in me for the Meadery to succeed.
We appreciate our customers feedback and though we do not always use all the ideas posed to us, we try some of those ideas out. I like to say that we have a very passionate customer base, and we enjoy their enthusiasm, it really fuels the fire for me.
Since the beginning we focused on dragons out of mythology to use for our flavor names and we commissioned local artist to create unique imagery for the labels. The results are stunning dragons and really attractive bottles with a delicious product inside, try some for yourself and let us know what you think.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

This business started very small and on a tight budget. The initial funding for the everything was more on a month-to-month basis. I purchased the essentials with some spare money which included a couple of fermenters and the raw ingredients. As things progressed, I bought the bottles, labels and corks for the initial batches and crossed my fingers that I would be able to sell enough to pay for the next batches. The rent came out of our family budget, some months were harder than others. As the business grew it was able to sustain itself which was a huge relief and a load off of our shoulders. It was really only in the last 3 or so years that I was able to start paying myself back for all the money that went in in the first 5 years. There were a couple of point where I weighed out the pros and cons of staying in business. Obviously, the pros won out but there were points where I thought I was making a horrible decision. The roller coaster is real and there are more lows than highs early on. As things progress it’s kind of surreal to see where we are now compared to where we started. I will say that our clientele really helped to motivate us for the long haul, we couldn’t have done this without the financial and emotional support from our customers.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Recently I was approached by a friend who worked at the Faire and was told that they wanted to bring a new line of Mead on board for sale at the bar from an outside source and competitor. Rather than let go of some of my market share I offered them a new option that would be beneficial for both parties. This was something that I hadn’t really produced commercially before and would test my patience and limits and take me outside of my comfort zone in multiple ways. I immediately test batched out some flavors for this new style and even before they were done rushed them over to check if there were any critiques for the flavors and to let them decide if they wanted to carry them. Out of the 6 batches they agreed to carry 3 with some minor tweaks. I maxed out my space with those new batches and kegged them up about a week before the event started.
The 3 flavors were new for me and that style was new for the bar so we each had our growing pains. I’m proud that we went from proof of concept to production in 12 weeks and while granted I rushed things the end product was nice and refreshing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dragonfiremeadery.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dragonfiremeadery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057481748986
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5nY9hkoFsuEqKV66IkwJvQ

Image Credits
Derek Batz and Brom Hanks